Kawasaki Warehouse

When I was a kid I used to sneak out of school to play at the local arcade. I’d run up to the door, open it up to a blast of smoky air and trot along the sticky concrete floor to the Street Fighter 2 machine. Good old days.

Kawasaki Warehouse brought back that same feeling of excitement the moment the automatic doors opened. This is not your usual Taito or Sega game center – it has Mario Kart and purikura machines for sure, but it’s all set in a replica of Hong Kong’s infamous Kowloon Walled City.

The attention to detail is astonishing, from the text on the signage to the props – it looks and feels just like the real thing. The owner went to great lengths to replicate the dark, dingy atmosphere of the city, and it definitely shows.

If you walk in from the car park entrance, you’ll have to navigate a little obstacle course that is quite frankly the most awesome entrance to anything, ever. It gets you all pumped up and ready for some good fun inside.

They have a large selection of arcade and crane games to play, and on the upper floors there’s darts and billiards for a change of pace. There’s even a 24-hour internet cafe if you need a place to chill for a bit.

Most visitors to Japan tend to focus on Tokyo, but if you have some time to explore a little further, Kawasaki is has quite a few unique experiences to offer, like the Kanamara *ahempenisahem* Festival in spring.

WOW

“Make it a day trip! Spend the afternoon at Warehouse and finish things off with a monstrously fun dinner at Kaiju Sakaba. If you have some time to spare, Yodobashi Camera and Lazona shopping mall is right next to the station too.”

INFO

Get there
Kawasaki Station (JR Tokaido and Nambu lines), take the East exit